The government will “pass emergency legislation in one day” to protect the British Steel plant in Scunthorpe, Starmer said.Speaking in Downing Street, the Prime Minister said:We will act with urgency.Now, we should be clear this situation and our response is unique.While it is true that we are facing a new era of global instability, our concerns about this plant and negotiations to protect it have been running for years.This moment could have happened at any time, but it has happened now, and I will not stand by.

There is no time to waste,So we are recalling Parliament tomorrow for a Saturday sitting,We will pass emergency legislation in one day to give the Business Secretary the powers to do everything possible to stop the closure of these blast furnaces,And as I have said, we will keep all options on the table,For the second time today, we’re closing this blog.

Here’s a round-up of the day’s main developments:Keir Starmer is stepping in to seize control of British Steel to stop its Chinese owner shutting the Scunthorpe plant in an unprecedented move that paves the way for likely nationalisationThe prime minister was granted a recall of parliament on Saturday, with MPs set to debate emergency laws that will give the business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, the power to direct the companyThe government is aiming to “pass emergency legislation in one day”, Starmer said, with the Lords also being recalledMeanwhile, Michael Gove is among seven new appointees to the House of Lords by Rishi Sunak in his resignation honours list.James Cleverly, Jeremy Hunt, Mel Stride and Grant Shapps are among those receiving knighthoodsRachel Reeves has said that the government needs to go “further and faster on delivering growth that is felt by families up and down the country” after February’s GDP figures showed an unexpected growth of 0.5%, and January’s figures were revised up slightlyThanks for reading.Blast furnaces have been making steel in Britain for 300 years, ever since they helped start the Industrial Revolution.This weekend, parliament will sit for the first Saturday in decades as it tries to keep the last two furnaces running for a bit longer.

Keir Starmer has recalled MPs to discuss emergency powers to direct steel companies, including British Steel’s Scunthorpe steelworks, to “preserve capability and ensure public safety”,The move would be short of nationalisation, but it would give the government more influence on the steel industry than at any point since Margaret Thatcher,The government is scrambling to save Scunthorpe after its Chinese owner, Jingye Steel Group, last month said it was considering closing it, with the likely loss of 2,700 jobs,Starmer and the business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, hope to keep the plant running for the next few weeks while they work out the longer-term plan, with nationalisation one option,British Steel is facing a crisis within a crisis: in the short term – the next week or so – it needs materials, including iron pellets and coking coal, or else it faces the prospect of the furnaces cooling beyond easy or affordable recovery.

Customers would flee, making job losses inevitable.People with knowledge of this week’s talks between the UK government and Jingye said it appeared that the government had run out of patience with the Chinese company’s negotiating.The government had offered to buy the raw materials to keep the blast furnaces running in the short term but that offer was not taken up.Parliament may be able to avert the short-term crisis on Saturday.Kemi Badenoch has said Labour “bungled” negotiations over British Steel and are now “scrambling for a solution” that will come at a big cost to taxpayers.

The Conservative leader said:The Labour government have landed themselves in a steel crisis entirely of their own making,They’ve made poor decisions and let the unions dictate their actions,As business secretary, I negotiated a modernisation plan with British Steel to limit job losses and keep the plant running, including introducing an electric arc furnace in Teesside, similar to what we did with Tata at Port Talbot steelworks,However, the union-led Labour Government have bungled the negotiations, insisting on a Scunthorpe-only deal that the company has deemed unviable,Keir Starmer should have seen this coming.

She added:Now the British public can see the Government scrambling for a solution to a problem they created and could have resolved months ago.It is inevitable that it’s going to cost taxpayers a lot of money.The Green Party has said it will support nationalising British Steel in tomorrow’s vote.Green MP Ellie Chowns said nationalisation was “the only sure way to secure this strategically important sector so vital to national security and British jobs”.She added:Public ownership of key sectors like steel, water, energy and transport has always been Green Party policy.

And where it is in the public interest to have public ownership of a key strategic industry, which appears to be the case with Scunthorpe Steelworks, Greens are in full support.Taking British Steel into public ownership provides the opportunity to help drive the green industrial revolution, supporting Scunthorpe Steelworks to make the transition from blast furnaces to electric arcs, which are cheaper and far better for the environment to run.Supporting decarbonisation of steel will further enable the UK to produce the green steel necessary to transition to a green economy, such as wind turbines and trains.Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds has now issued a statement on British Steel.It doesn’t add much to what Starmer said earlier.

Reynolds, like the PM, emphasises the strategic importance of being able produce steel in the UK.He said:We will always do what is necessary to keep Britain secure at home and strong abroad.We are doing what previous governments have failed to, acting in the national interest to help secure UK steelmaking for the futureWe negotiated with British Steel’s owners in good faith ever since coming to office.We made a generous offer of support to the company and I am deeply disappointed that we have been forced to take these measures, but Jingye have not been forthright throughout this process, and left us no choice but to act.We’re in a new and changing world where it’s never been more important to support our security and build our resilience, so that we can have strength abroad and renewal at home, and that’s what this government has done.

The Unite union has welcomed Starmer’s comments, saying that beginning the process of nationalisation is “absolutely the right thing to do”.Here is general secretary Sharon Graham’s full statement:I am pleased that the government has listened to representations by Unite and other steel unions over the future of British Steel.Ministers could not have allowed a foundation industry to go under with the loss of more than 3,000 jobs and key skills.It is absolutely the right thing to do to begin the process of nationalisation.Discussions have been positive and whilst a longer-term plan needs to be developed, this gives workers the reprieve we have been asking for.

It is essential that Scunthorpe receives the relevant infrastructure and kit to allow it to thrive as a modern steel producer long into the future,Unite is also urging the government to consider making steel an area of critical national infrastructure and ensure that UK steel is used on all infrastructure projects,This move is needed to back the British steel industry as a whole,It is also vital that the government tackles the issue of industrial energy costs,If you’re wondering why the Scunthorpe steelworks is of such importance for the UK, my colleagues Rowena Mason, Eleni Courea and Jasper Jolly say this in their report:Scunthorpe is the last remaining steelworks capable of making steel from iron ore and so is seen by some people as strategically important for the UK.

However, Jingye last month said it planned to close the plant’s two blast furnaces, putting 2,700 jobs at risk.It has since refused to pay for new raw materials, with coal and iron ore deliveries to Immingham port not yet paid for.The government had offered £500m in financial support to switch the blast furnaces to cleaner electric arc furnaces, but Jingye had requested much more.Talks this week are thought to have stalled when Jingye balked at the conditions attached to the offer to pay for new raw materials.The delays in reaching an agreement had caused increasing alarm among workers, who feared at least one blast furnace might be forced to close as soon as next week, leading to job losses.

We’ve got a bit more from the PM, who said government plans to take control of the British Steel plant in Scunthorpe aims to “preserve all viable options” for the operation,Asked to clarify whether the emergency legislation to be debated in the Commons and Lords on Saturday amounts to nationalisation, or as a precursor to nationalisation, Starmer said:Well, what we’re doing tomorrow is passing legislation to take control of the plant and to preserve all viable options,It doesn’t mean all options are on the table, but it means all options remain viable,But the step we’re taking tomorrow is the step of taking control, because it’s necessary now to do that,He added:Obviously, negotiations will be going on for some time, but now is the time to take this action, to take control of the plant.

He did not directly answer when asked about the costs of the plan to secure Scunthorpe, nor why a similar plan was not presented to save the Port Talbot steelworks.The last time parliament was recalled during recess was in 2021, when Afghanistan had to be evacuated during the Taliban takeover.It is also the first recall of parliament on a Saturday since 1982.Just ahead of Starmer’s press conference, No 10 said the bill up for debate tomorrow “provides the government with the power to direct steel companies in England, which we will use to protect the Scunthorpe site”.Here’s the full statement:The prime minister has been clear, his government will always act in the national interest.

All actions we take are in the name of British industry, British jobs and for British workers,Tomorrow, parliament will be recalled to debate the Steel Industry (Special Measures) bill,The bill provides the government with the power to direct steel companies in England, which we will use to protect the Scunthorpe site,It enables the UK government to preserve capability and ensure public safety,It also ensures all options remain viable for the future of the plant and the livelihoods it supports.

We have been negotiating with British Steel’s owners in good faith ever since coming to office.We have always been clear there is a bright future for steel in the UK.All options remain on the table.